Irwin says gas-line memo was private
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Governor is still silent on future of Natural Resources head.
By SEAN COCKERHAM
Anchorage Daily News
Published: October 26, 2005
Last Modified: October 26, 2005 at 03:37 PM
JUNEAU -- State Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin said Tuesday he still has his job despite having written an explosive memo critical of how much the state was giving up in the governor's negotiations over a natural gas pipeline.
But Irwin, who wasn't at work Monday or Tuesday, wouldn't say whether he is suspended.
"It's really not appropriate for me to be talking about it," he said. "It needs to come from the governor's office."
The governor's office, for the second day in a row, would not say Tuesday whether it still considers Irwin to be the state's commissioner of natural resources. The governor's spokeswoman would not comment on Irwin's job status.
Gov. Frank Murkowski released Irwin's gas line memo at a Friday press conference. Murkowski had called the press conference to announce he had struck a deal with Conoco Phillips on terms that would cover state taxes and royalties if the proposed natural gas pipeline were built from the North Slope to the Lower 48.
Murkowski is working on getting Exxon Mobil and BP to accept his proposal for the gas line contract. Irwin was a major player on the state's negotiating team.
Irwin, in his first public comments since the governor released the memo, said Tuesday he didn't mean for the memo to go to the press. He considered it to be confidential.
"That memo was attorney-client privilege. I am amazed, surprised that it ever got put out," Irwin said.
Irwin wrote the memo to Alaska Attorney General David Marquez. It questioned the legality of the ongoing negotiations between the governor's office and the major North Slope oil companies over what the state's share of the wealth would be if the pipeline were built.
Typical of how he posed his questions is this one, about the enforceability of the gas line contract: "My question is whether the proposed contract terms are legal under current law as reflected in the Alaska Stranded Gas Development Act."
The act is the state law under which the talks are taking place.
Irwin said in the memo that all available data show it is economical to build the pipeline and there is no reason for the state to be offering "fiscal support" -- under the stranded gas act -- to help the oil companies with the project.
The negotiations are confidential, and the memo didn't say specifically what the state is offering. Other state officials have characterized it as a good deal for the state.
Becky Hultberg, Murkowski's press aide, said the attorney general will soon have a response to Irwin's questions about the legality of the gas pipeline talks. The legal analysis will also address Irwin's position that his memo should have been considered confidential under attorney-client privilege, Hultberg said.
Hultberg said the governor released the memo because he thought it was important to make the issues public and get them resolved now. She would not elaborate.
Meanwhile, an attempt by Conoco Phillips to call a closed meeting of the Anchorage-area legislators fizzled Tuesday. Lawmakers reported getting calls from Conoco Phillips lobbyist Michael Hurley inviting them to the meeting at the company's Alaska headquarters in Anchorage.
Anchorage Democratic Rep. Les Gara said that, when Conoco Phillips said it wouldn't open the meeting to the general public, he asked the Legislature's legal division and ethics staff whether it would be a violation of open-meeting laws to attend. Both said their preliminary view was that the meeting could pose a legal problem. Gara said he passed that information on to all the other legislators.
Conoco Phillips spokeswoman Dawn Patience said the company called the meeting to brief the Southcentral legislators on the gas pipeline agreement and give them a chance to ask questions about it. Patience said the company has done the same for business leaders and a handful of other legislators already.
Conoco Phillips canceled the Tuesday meeting "because there were concerns raised," Patience said.
The Legislature has the power to reject the deal Murkowski made with the company. Its details will have to be made public before lawmakers can take action. |
